Kobe Bryant has influenced a whole generation of players. The impact the 5x champion has left is visible in the way they carry themselves. Among many, Boston Celtics’ superstar Jayson Tatum is someone who follows the Black Mamba’s teachings. According to Tatum, one of his earliest Kobe experiences helped him make it to the NBA.

As Kobe asked a bunch of kids a random question during a basketball training camp, a young Tatum heard just what he needed to focus his energies and attention on basketball.

Jayson Tatum was influenced by Kobe Bryant

In a recent episode of the Point Forward podcast, the special guest was Jayson Tatum. During their conversation, Evan Turner asked Tatum if there was ever any backup plan for him in case basketball didn’t pan out the way that he hoped.

Tatum went on to talk about a story of Kobe Bryant from back in the day and how it influenced him in his journey to make it to the NBA. Tatum revealed that the Los Angeles Lakers legend once asked the same question to kids during a basketball camp.

Kobe wanted to know what the plans were for the kids if basketball didn’t work out. As the children started naming other things that they wanted to do, Kobe told them that he never thought about pursuing anything else in his career.

According to Tatum, Kobe said, “I never had a plan B.” This was enough to motivate a young Tatum who was dreaming of making it to the NBA just like Kobe.

Tatum said, “That just resonated so much. That was my favorite player. That’s who I wanted to be like. So in my mind, there was never a plan B… What do 50 (cent) say—get rich or die trying? going to get to the league or die trying. And I live by that.“

Kobe loved basketball, and he wanted to be a player in the NBA. After understanding this, Tatum also followed his path and had nothing other than basketball on his mind.

Tatum has gotten off to a great start

Jayson Tatum is currently in his 7th season in the NBA. Over the past six years, he has proven that he is a star player capable of leading his own team. He has already taken the Boston Celtics to an NBA final and twice to the conference finals.

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He already has 4 All-Star and 3 All-NBA selections. Tatum even won the first-ever Eastern Conference Finals MVP award in 2022. With the trajectory that he is going on, it won’t be long before he helps the Celtics raise their 18th banner.

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